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FIRST LOOK – Vogue’s Feb. issue, “The Talk of the Town: Alex Wagner and Sam Kass—Politics' It Couple,” by Jacob Weisberg: “Sam Kass has the day off from cooking for the president, which is good news for his fiancée, Alex Wagner … He’s communicative but not chatty, professionally discreet in the Washington manner. … Wagner is … vivacious, delightfully profane, a natural host at dinner just as she is on her daytime MSNBC news program, ‘Now with Alex Wagner.’ … She’s in the lead, sparkling with stories; he hangs back, gruffly handsome … ‘The glamour culture in Washington loves anyone who (A) is on TV, (B) is close to the president, and (C) is attractive. They have all the elements,’ says Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine’s chief national correspondent and the author of an acerbic survey of the capital, ‘This Town.’ …

“Wagner, 36, and Kass, 33, live … in different cities … A relative newcomer to television, she approaches the job … less like on-air ‘talent’ than as the political activist and music-magazine editor she used to be. … Born and raised in Washington, … Wagner is the only child of a Burmese mother and a Midwestern father, who worked as a field director in Democratic campaigns, including Ted Kennedy’s 1980 presidential bid. … As a toddler, she would … pick up the kitchen phone, and bark, ‘Give me the numbers!’ … the way her dad used to call for Kennedy’s tracking polls at the end of the day. … Her current job came about when Wagner was covering … Obama … for AOL’s Politics Daily. MSNBC’s [Phil] Griffin spotted her as a guest on ‘Countdown’ and ‘Hardball’ -- and surprised her with an offer to host her own show. …

“Kass’s wider influence comes from his role as executive director of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, which aims to encourage Americans to exercise and change the way they eat. ‘If it’s hard work for a family to make choices that are good for them, we’re not going to be successful,’ he tells me. … The model for feeding the First Family used to be room service: anything you want 24/7. George W. Bush would order hot dogs to a meeting. The new model is a nourishing family meal. The president, who makes a practice of sitting down for dinner with his wife and daughters at 6:30, eats Kass’s cooking five nights a week. …

“[Richard] Wolffe … introduced Kass to Wagner. … Kass discovered that Wagner was a fellow Washington Nationals fan. Casually, she asked him if he’d like to play catch sometime in D.C. … Kass raised the stakes: He persuaded his friend Edward Cohen, whose family is principal owner of the Nationals, to open Nats Park. For an hour, they tossed a baseball back and forth in the empty stadium. … Wagner’s next step is prime time—and someday, she’d like to host a late-night show. … Kass … expects … to … continue his work in food policy from New York. … The wedding is planned for this summer.” http://goo.gl/HDCP5V

WEST WING STRATEGY – “White House dials it down on immigration,” by Reid J. Epstein: “In meetings with immigration reform advocates, White House officials have said President Obama won’t threaten to take unilateral executive action … [H]e wants to give House Republicans some breathing room to try to pass legislation this year … While Obama is blaming Republicans for blocking the rest of his domestic agenda, … activists in touch with the White House said Obama won’t use his bully pulpit to embarrass or chasten the GOP on immigration. That includes Obama’s State of the Union address next Tuesday. … Michael Bloomberg … is hosting an immigration forum Friday in Washington http://goo.gl/vZUkE5

OUT OF OFFICE 11 DAYS – “The tragedy of Bob McDonnell,” by Alexander Burns and John F. Harris, with Josh Gerstein: “In a 43-page document filed in federal district court, the former [Virginia] governor is depicted by prosecutors as a man preoccupied with improving his family’s financial condition, going well out of his way to accommodate his financial benefactor … and communicating directly and often with the former first lady about various money-making enterprises. … McDonnell’s sunny demeanor and personal drive propelled him from a Virginia Beach-based state legislative district to a razor-thin win in the 2005 state attorney general’s race and then to his landslide victory in a gubernatorial election four years later.

“Even speaking to the press Tuesday, McDonnell eschewed outrage and indignation, … reminding viewers that he was once a prosecutor himself and asserting that the charges against him amounted to a ‘misguided legal theory.’” http://goo.gl/3RtHuk

NOT A GOOD IDEA IF YOU’RE IN PUBLIC OFFICE – From the indictment: “[T]he defendants are notified that upon conviction of the offenses alleged in Counts 1-11 of this Indictment, they shall forfeit any property, real or personal, which they obtained directly or indirectly and which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the offenses of conviction. Property subject to forfeiture includes but is not limited to the following:

TOP TALKER – N.Y. Times B6, “Top Wonkblog Columnist to Leave Washington Post,” by Ravi Somaiya: “Ezra Klein … will leave the newspaper, taking two of his colleagues with him … [An internal memo said] Klein is ‘looking to start his own news organization’ … He declined to comment … but said he had not ‘signed anything with anyone.’ He has been in talks with Vox Media, among other potential backers … He leaves with Melissa Bell, director of platforms at The Post, … and Dylan Matthews, who wrote for Wonkblog and started its more general sister blog, Know More. … Klein … had been rebuffed in attempts to get The Post to back his venture … He had been seeking an investment of eight figures.” http://goo.gl/TzemGa

--@EzraKlein: “Thanks to the @WashingtonPost for five incredible years … Also, do you guys know how awesome @dylanmatt and @MelissaBell are? You should follow them. Now. … DO IT. RT @jimtankersley Important programming note: @Wonkblog isn't going anywhere. #FF, and stay tuned for relaunch details … Dammit, who leaked the new venture? RT @clapetina: @dylanmatt @MelissaBell @ezraklein U three will be homeless and on crack in 9 months.”

** A message from the National Retail Federation: Digital payments and receipts are a game-changer for retail, according to Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter and Square. At Retail’s BIG Show last week, Dorsey explained his philosophy on technology and the retail revitalization happening now across America. Video: http://bit.ly/1iWX7bL #nrf14 **

REPUBLICAN REBOOT --“Christie finds allies among Hispanic leaders,” by AP’s Steve Peoples: “[S]ome minority leaders usually aligned with Democrats are giving the Republican governor the benefit of the doubt, … in part because of Christie's aggressive courtship of minority voters … Just days before [the bridge emails], … Christie signed a new law granting in-state college tuition rates to New Jersey immigrants in the country illegally … The gesture may alienate some conservatives … but it helped cement Christie's status as one of the Hispanic community's more popular Republicans. … He scheduled his inaugural celebration for … Ellis Island … The Tuesday night event was canceled because of weather.” http://goo.gl/Hx6kKj

--“CITIZENS UNITED, 4 YEARS LATER,” by Byron Tau: “America’s largest companies haven’t used the Citizens United v. FEC case to open up their checkbook. Instead, most still prefer the time-tested avenues of political influence-peddling: industry trade associations, politically active nonprofits and company PACs that are limited to giving just $5,000 per candidate. The ruling has helped reshape the campaign finance landscape by paving the way for megadonors and campaign consultants to wrest power away from the K Street fundraising circuit and the political parties, but just not in the way critics first envisioned. … Corporations accounted for only 12 percent of giving to all super PACs during the 2012 cycle, according to an analysis of public records by the groups Demos and U.S. PIRG.” http://goo.gl/D1yZFF

KATIE COURIC tells Playbook by phone from Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, after the world premiere of “Fed Up,” her 93-minute documentary about childhood obesity: “I have covered this story for all my years in television news, and I thought: ‘Why am I still talking about this, 30 years later? The more we talk about it, the worse the problem seems to get.’ … When I hear that this generation will have a shorter lifespan that their parents, I thought: ‘This is a disturbing and unfair legacy we’re leaving our children.’”

--The Wrap’s Josh Dickey: “The Weinstein Co. and Netflix are both circling ‘Fed Up,’ a documentary featuring Katie Couric investigating alleged complicity by the food industry and U.S. government’ in the … childhood obesity epidemic … The film … is expected to go for about $1 million.” http://goo.gl/ZRN75X

CALIFORNIA GOV. RACE – L.A. Times, 1-col. lead of second front, “GOP figure joins gov. race: O.C. resident Neel Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury official, announces his bid to unseat Jerry Brown,” by Seema Mehta and Chris Megerian in Sacramento: “Kashkari announced Tuesday that he is running for governor, arguing that the status quo is failing millions of Californians and staking his campaign on his ability to create jobs and improve public schools. … Californians last elected a Republican to statewide office eight years ago, and GOP voter registration is at a historic low of less than 30%. ... The other main Republican in the race — Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks — is a staunch conservative, founder of a Minuteman border-patrol chapter and a favorite of the tea party.” http://goo.gl/DhR3mY

2015 LOUISIANA GOV. RACE – The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, “GAME ON: [Sen. David] Vitter’s gubernatorial bid heats up the race – Field shaping up for term-limited Jindal’s position,” by Michelle Millhollon: “Vitter [R-La.] jumps to the lead position in a GOP pack of candidates that could include Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, state Treasurer John Kennedy and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle. On the Democratic side is Amite state Rep. John Bel Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former U.S. Army officer. Even the tarnish of Vitter’s sex scandal seems surmountable after he easily won re-election in 2010 against then-Congressman Charlie Melancon.” http://goo.gl/CT7lus

THE WEATHER CHANNEL RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON DIRECTV with full-page ads in The Times and elsewhere: Since the two companies failed to reach an agreement to extend their carriage agreement on Jan. 13, 4 million people have visited The Weather Channel’s special “Keep the Weather Channel” site, with nearly half a million sending messages to DIRECTV and another 100,000 vowing to switch providers if the dispute is not settled. In this morning’s ad, The Weather Channel releases an open letter to DIRECTV calling on the company waive the fees for customers who have tried to switch providers. These cancellation fees have been the target of past investigations for state AGs and have been criticized by consumer groups. See the letter here.www.keeptheweatherchannel.com

DAVOS DIARY – “Billionaires Foresee Even Greater Riches by Davos 2015 on Stock Rally,” by Bloomberg’s Matthew G. Miller and Tom Metcalf: “About a half-dozen of the wealthiest participants, including Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, and Irish telecommunications mogul Denis O’Brien, said stocks will rise, interest rates will remain low and they’d avoid investing in the virtual currency Bitcoin in 2014. … Dangote is one of at least 80 billionaires joining more than 2,500 business and political leaders in Davos, … according to a list of attendees and promotional materials.” http://goo.gl/Wb6XwV

11 DAYS TO SUPER BOWL: On the predictions page of USA Today’s fat, 96-page Super Bowl Preview special edition (on newsstands through game day), four of the paper’s NFL writers pick Broncos and three go with Seahawks.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Leonard Silverstein, a prominent and highly regarded attorney in D.C., is 92! He is counsel to the White House Historical Association Board, which will recognize him today at a special meeting. (hat tip: Fred) … LAST WEEK: Kelly Allen in Rep. Peter Welch's Office. (h/t her boyfriend, Austin)

** A message from the National Retail Federation: Retailers are innovating at the speed of light when it comes to how customers interact with brands through mobile, implementing quick and easy digital payments and receipts and reinventing the physical storefront to keep up with changing consumer demands. These topics and more were key conversation drivers at Retail’s BIG Show last week, as NRF welcomed more than 30,000 industry professional to New York City for an educational and networking experience you can’t find anywhere else.

Want to find out how these innovations impact public policy? Here’s what you need to know. http://retailmeansjobs.com Follow the conversation with #nrf14. **